What does this research mean for the field?

In asynchronously breeding large herbivores, most maternal and environmental drivers of individual reproductive success do not scale up to population recruitment, likely because birth asynchrony buffers the population against environmental variation. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To investigate whether maternal traits and environmental drivers of individual reproductive success scale up to determine population recruitment in an asynchronously breeding large herbivore.

September 5, 2026Journal of Animal EcologyOpen Access

Weathering the storm: Most maternal and environmental drivers of individual reproductive success do not scale up to population recruitment in a large herbivore

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Authors

RBRachel Bergeron RDRichard P. Duncan DFDavid M. Forsyth

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Overview

Longitudinal study reveals that individual reproductive drivers fail to predict population recruitment in eastern grey kangaroos, suggesting birth asynchrony buffers against environmental shocks.

Key Points

To investigate whether maternal traits and environmental drivers of individual reproductive success scale up to determine population recruitment in an asynchronously breeding large herbivore.
Analyzed 18 years of individual-based demographic and environmental data in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus).
Fitted multivariate hierarchical Bayesian models to trace causal links between population density, environmental conditions, maternal characteristics, individual success, and recruitment.
Maternal traits primarily governed juvenile survival in the pouch, whereas environmental variables became decisive after young exited the pouch.
Most drivers of individual reproductive success did not scale up to population recruitment; instead, recruitment increased with population density and mean adult female body condition, alongside a weak positive effect from weather harshness.

Cite This Study

Bergeron et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9bd49d6b95aff0620ec620 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70341

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September 5, 2026Journal of Animal EcologyOpen Access

Weathering the storm: Most maternal and environmental drivers of individual reproductive success do not scale up to population recruitment in a large herbivore

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

RBRachel Bergeron RDRichard P. Duncan DFDavid M. Forsyth

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Longitudinal study reveals that individual reproductive drivers fail to predict population recruitment in eastern grey kangaroos, suggesting birth asynchrony buffers against environmental shocks.

Key Points

To investigate whether maternal traits and environmental drivers of individual reproductive success scale up to determine population recruitment in an asynchronously breeding large herbivore.
Analyzed 18 years of individual-based demographic and environmental data in eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus).
Fitted multivariate hierarchical Bayesian models to trace causal links between population density, environmental conditions, maternal characteristics, individual success, and recruitment.
Maternal traits primarily governed juvenile survival in the pouch, whereas environmental variables became decisive after young exited the pouch.
Most drivers of individual reproductive success did not scale up to population recruitment; instead, recruitment increased with population density and mean adult female body condition, alongside a weak positive effect from weather harshness.

Cite This Study

Bergeron et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9bd49d6b95aff0620ec620 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70341

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